The Anniversary at Shallow Creek and Shallow Predictability: A Movie Review

*a screener of this film was provided by Breaking Glass Pictures.

**here be spoilers.

Director: Jon D. Wagner.

Writers: Eric Fischer and Brianna Lee Johnson.

The latest indie flick to come out of distribution house Breaking Glass Pictures is The Anniversary at Shallow Creek. This title releases on DVD July 5th and coincidently, this is a day that you will want to stay away from digital rental shops and Netflix queues. Bathed in horror cliches, The Anniversary at Shallow Creek is a B-movie that does not break any molds. Also, the film does not show any depth in story or characters and watching this film is much like being in detention or in a prison cell; you just do not want to be there.

The sound is on cue, but the camera used for photography seems overly bright for exterior shots and the picture is dull for interior sequences. The blood effects and make-up are mostly on, including a grotesque rifle shot to a victim's head and the subsequent blood splatter on to a nearby wall; however, there is nothing else that is interesting in the visual sphere. The director's Dutch angles are laughable and very little of interest develops here in the visuals from director John D. Wagner, withThe Anniversary at Shallow Creek his only feature to date.

Moving on, the characters have little depth and no character development. Almost every plotline can be predicted and viewers will realize what happens when six friends go out to an isolated cabin, right? Of course, they meet a serial killer and this time he or she has a rifle. He or she kills indiscriminately and by the halfway mark this reviewer knew he was in for a long haul. A minor character reveal in the final minutes shows that the writers have some minor knowledge of the term surprise ending, but this film feels more routine, than anything else.

Finally, the tropes begin early, with a serial killer mercilessly killing a dating couple. The weak hook is established and soon, characters are stating the prerequisite: "why are you doing this?" (Anniversary). Then, there is the moral decision of whether to kill your brother or your lover and this is taken straight out of the Saw films or the recent Choose, from director Marcus Graves. The sensitive guy dies first and partially nude female bodies are thrown in to keep you distracted. Yet, a film with no substance will not keep you glued to your seat for long and The Anniversary at Shallow Creek is honestly a very poor horror film.

Skip this film and seek out some of the better Breaking Glass Picture's horror entries, including Dawning from director Gregg Holtgrewe, the documentary Cropsey, or even the comical Ninjas vs Vampires. The Haunting of Shallow Creek is simply dismal and this picture is being nominated for this reviewer's top 10 worst horror films of 2011, thus far.

Overall: 5.5 out of 10 (the film tries nothing new, the story is bland and there is no substance here).

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